


Pick Up the Pieces

by AngelQueen



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Drabble Collection, Friendship, Gen, Spoilers, post-ep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-08
Updated: 2011-04-08
Packaged: 2017-10-17 18:44:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/180037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelQueen/pseuds/AngelQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of double drabbles concerning the lives of the characters after Camelot was retaken. Post-ep for <i>3x13 The Coming of Arthur, Part Two</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pick Up the Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** _Merlin_ is property of the BBC and Shine. I make no claim on it and write this purely for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. No copyright infringement intended.
> 
> Post-ep for _3x13 The Coming of Arthur, Part Two_.

_Uther_

Everything was hazy, insubstantial. He was exhausted, and every part of his body ached.

Uther had barely reacted when Arthur and his allies had stormed the dungeons and freed him and the other captives. He hadn’t responded when Gaius had appeared and led him up through the castle to his chambers. His manservant, Edgar, had materialized out of the shadows, assisted him in washing and changing his clothing, and laid him down on the bed. Uther hardly cared.

All he could think of was _her_. The orders she had shouted in the courtyard, signaling her men to open fire upon a helpless, innocent crowd. The smirk on her painted lips when she had come to visit him. The cold, cruel glitter in her green eyes. The bitter revulsion in her tone when she called him _Father_.

She hated him. The baby girl who he had fathered outside the confines of marriage. The tear-streaked child who had been brought to him after Gorlois’ death. The beautiful woman who, at first blush, resembled her mother, but in truth was more like him than anyone else. She hated him.

Uther closed his eyes, not wiping away the tears that slid down his cheeks.

* * *

 _Guinevere_

There was change in the air. Gwen could feel it as she hurried through the halls. During the week Morgana had ruled, fear had been the primary emotion written on the faces of those who remained, fear that was even more prevalent than when Uther sat on the throne. Now that fear was gone. Morgana had been ousted, Uther was in seclusion, and Arthur was, for all intents and purposes, the ruler of Camelot.

The fear was gone, replaced by relief. The servants no longer scurried about the corridors with hunched shoulders. Instead everyone exchanged smiles as they went about their business. Gwen had even seen Arthur making a point to speak to as many people as he could, making sure they and their families doing well.

“My lady,” said Lind, one of the other servants, “the prince requests you join him and the knights for the afternoon meal.”

Gwen blinked as he hurried off. He’d called her ‘my lady’. He hadn’t been the first to do so, and it was still jarring. Even the knights were calling her that.

There was definitely change in the air. Even Uther wouldn’t be able to stop it when he came out again.

* * *

 _Arthur_

Arthur hardly knew where to start. He had a castle that had been rattled almost to its very foundations and needed repairs, his knights’ ranks had been decimated down to a mere dozen in number, and a third of them, while excellent swordsmen, hadn’t undergone the knights’ training. Until they were put through the proper instruction, the men were vulnerable.

Arthur was also worried about his father. He hadn’t said a word since the castle had been retaken, just allowed himself to be led away. He had showed no interest in the state of the kingdom, nor even in Arthur himself. Arthur tried not to feel resentment.

He had never asked it out loud, but Arthur sometimes wondered if his father had loved Morgana more than him. Knowing what he did now, Arthur wondered even more. Morgana was his daughter, a child that hadn’t cost him his beloved wife’s life. She did not come to him hand-in-hand with death.

Obviously, Arthur didn’t recall his father’s emotional state when his mother died, but given the worried expression on Gaius’ face, he wondered if perhaps Morgana had done what even Arthur’s mother’s death had failed to do – broken him beyond all hope.

* * *

 _Merlin_

He wasn’t surprised that there was much to be done in the battle’s aftermath. He remembered the amount of work that had been waiting for everyone after Kilgharrah’s assault. What surprised Merlin was that the servants looked to _him_ for instructions. Merlin had issued orders before – often when Arthur was lying injured or half-dead – but this was different. The servants, his peers, wanted instructions from _him_.

“Well, of _course_ they do,” Arthur said. “Traditionally, the royal servants are considered the most highly-ranked, aside from the stewards.” He paused, then added, “Though, considering what an idiot you are, Merlin, I’m not sure how that’ll turn out.”

“Prat.”

Arthur smirked, but then sobered. “Both of the stewards were killed,” he said, not elaborating further. “It will take time for new ones to be appointed. Until then, the royal servants are considered in charge. That means you, Edgar, and Guinevere, and Edgar won’t leave my father’s side.”

It also went unsaid that Gwen wasn’t a royal servant anymore, not with Morgana gone and a mortal enemy of Camelot. Still, Merlin was grateful. Giving orders for Arthur’s safety was one thing, commands concerning reconstruction was something else. It would go better with Gwen involved.

* * *

 _Gaius_

Gaius wasn’t a fool. His magic hadn’t come to him so easily in decades. Then again, even in his youth he had not been so fluent. Where magic flowed through Merlin like a river, it had come to Gaius in a thin trickle. Not so now. In those harrowing moments, Gaius wasn’t entirely certain he had been the one in control.

He’d warned Merlin, saying that the forces of the Old Religion were rising again. It was true. Magic was seeping back into the land. Its most obvious presence was in what Morgana and Morgause had done with the cup, but there were other indications. The sword Merlin had wielded, for example. Merlin had been evasive about it, but given what Gaius had seen it do, he had an inkling of where it had come from. No ordinary sword could do such things, and only once before had there been such a sword in Camelot.

The old ways were returning, no matter what Uther did. All that mattered was how it returned. If they fought it, it was likely that there would be even more violence and bloodshed. If not, then perhaps there was a chance to build something new…

* * *

 _Morgana_

Morgana laid a wet cloth over Morgause’s fevered brow, and then brushed a damp blonde curl from her sister’s cheek. She hadn’t woken since their escape from Camelot; the only indication that Morgause was still alive at all was her shallow breathing.

Morgana fought back tears and glanced around at their surroundings. The cave was certainly a step down from their previous circumstances. In Camelot, Morgana would have the resources of the city to help Morgause. Instead, she was stuck here, trying to make sense of her sister’s stores. She could only hope she could comprehend the potions and the various ingredients in time to do Morgause any good. Morgana couldn’t bear to think of what might happen otherwise.

She looked down at her sister and stroked her cheek. “Don’t worry, sister,” she murmured, leaning down to brush her lips against Morgause’s flushed skin. “We’ll be all right.”

They would. They had each other. They would grow beyond this.

Their enemies would pay. Morgana would raze all of Camelot, preferably with Merlin, Arthur, Uther, and those they cared about inside. She would have no mercy for those who had tried to kill Morgause, who had stolen her birthright from her.


End file.
